at Paris in 1313, being the (illegitimate) son of a wealthy merchant of Florence. He died 1375 at Certaldo, a village near Florence, the original seat of the family.
P. 28: Does the following chanson refer to the same woman?
On void Simonne
Proumener aux bordeaux
Matin, soir, nonne,
Avec ses macquereaux.
(Bib. Nat., ms. français 22565, f 41 v.)
P. 28: This is indeed one of the most curious passages of the book, and I am glad to remove one of Lalanne's doubts. Brantôme is really talking of a statue, an antique piece which was found July 21, 1594, in a field near the Saint-Martin priory. It had been admirably conserved. Unfortunately, Louis XIV. having claimed it later, it was placed on a barge which sank in the Garonne, and was never recovered. (O'Reilly, History of Bordeaux, 1863, Vol. II.) The statue is described as having had one breast uncovered and curled hair, a description that agrees only partly with Visconti's type (Iconographie romaine, t. II., planche 28), in which Messalina is not décolleté and carries her son. Was the Bordeaux statue indeed a Messalina?
P. 31: Brantôme is mistaken; Nero caused Octavia to be killed. (See Suetonius, Nero, Chap. XXXV.)
P. 31: Nero, fifth Roman Emperor, A. D. 54-63.
P. 31: Domitian succeeded his father Titus on the Imperial throne; reigned from A. D. 81 to 96.
P. 31: Pertinax, a man of peasant birth, but who had carved out for himself a distinguished career as soldier and administrator, was elected Emperor by the Prætorian Guards on the murder of Cornmodus, A. D. 193. Himself murdered after a two months' reign.
P. 32: Septimius Severus, Emperor from A.D. 193 to 211. He was a great general and conducted successful campaigns in Britain, where he died,—at York.
P. 33: Philippe Auguste, King of France 1180-1223. Philip Au-
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